Catholic University vs. Ohio State Forum

[evanvanreg]

I need to decide between Catholic University (with 10k) versus Ohio State (in-state sticker) I live in NYC and want to work in NYC or DC.

[Aqualibrium]

The obvious answer is retake --> reapply, but if you're from Ohio and unwilling to consider that, your best bet is to go to OSU with the understanding that your most likely outcome is a job in ohio or no job while simultaneously praying like hell that you can get a job in DC/NY.

[law4vus]

I need to decide between Catholic University (with 10k) versus Ohio State (in-state sticker) I live in NYC and want to work in NYC or DC.

How much is Catholic with scholly vs. OSU sticker?

Neither are going to get you a GOOD job in NY or DC, but Catholic is more likely to land you some sort of job in DC. If you're more flexible on location and don't mind working in the midwest then I say OSU.

[justhockey31]

I went to OSU as an UG and that place is unreal...I would imagine that given it's large alumni base you will be able to find employment in NY/DC if you KILL it and network well. This is obviously tough to do but at the end of the day if that fails OSU will leave you in better shape to find a job

[bk1]

Generally the answer is retake/reapply since neither of these schools is very good for what you want, but it looks like you've already taken the LSAT 3 times and getting OSU was pretty lucky for your stats.

So you have OSU at 150k debt and it places 66% of its grads into full time lawyer positions and you have Catholic which is 180k debt and places 50% of its grads into full time lawyer jobs. While Catholic will give you the best shot at DC, honestly you should give up on NYC/DC and go to OSU with the goal of working in Ohio. OSU is the top dog in its state and faces no real competition whereas Catholic is at the bottom of a ton of DC schools, not to mention that it faces serious competition from the T14 while being an ultra competitive market. OSU at in-state sticker isn't very pretty and you will only have a 2/3 chance at a full time legal job and will likely have to deal with that debt for almost 2 decades, but if you really want to be a lawyer then OSU and settling for living in Ohio is the correct response.

Again, both of them a seriously unwise financial decisions and you should probably not go to law school at all, but between these two you should pick OSU and aim for a job in Ohio because NYC/DC is just not in the cards.

[Danteshek]

I think you should go to Catholic if you are serious about working in DC.

[AreJay711]

This was a different area but I know a really successful lawyer from Ohio State in Baltimore so there are alumni spread out. Of course I'm sure he didn't have to drop 150K to go to law school and probably went in a better economy so it is apples to oranges but it is doable.

[evanvanreg]

Thanks for the responses....I guess I'm just trying to decide if you should take the higher ranked school come hell or high water. I've lived in NYC for 15 years and have many contacts, but one should never rely on those solely......

Thanks again

[ran12]

You would be nuts to go to Catholic over Ohio St. OSU has much better job prospects for its market compared to Catholic and I would argue that it has even money in DC considering the alumni base.

[cinephile]

You would be nuts to go to Catholic over Ohio St. OSU has much better job prospects.

[JamMasterJ]

Neither is ideal for NY or DC. Retake if you can afford waiting, otherwise get comfortable with the idea that you might be stuck in the midwest for a bit.

[ran12]

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and go where the opportunity is. As much as you want to work in NY or DC, going to Ohio State will help you a lot in getting a job, albeit in OH. Question is, would you rather go to a crappy school in the market you want to be in with a ton of debt and no job or go to a good school where you have a good chance to get a good job. You'll still have a good amount of debt at Ohio State but at least it'll be manageable with a job.